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Niles West News

The Student News Site of Niles West High School

Niles West News

The Student News Site of Niles West High School

Niles West News

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It’s Time to Feel Like Seniors, Seniors

Its Time to Feel Like Seniors, Seniors

Seniors should be looked up to, not directly stared at. Seniors should be at the top of the hill, not helping others climb. Niles West slowly diminishes hierarchy and soon seniority won’t exist. The seniors here can relate, and I am sure they would love a change.

I’m not saying that the administration is placing rules on only seniors, but they are certainly not doing anything to help keep the seniors feel like seniors in my opinion. It’s a tradition. In movies and books, seniors are almost always depicted as the top dogs of their school. It’s a privilege, being a senior, you are allowed to things others aren’t and it makes you feel powerful having gone through four years of hard work in high school– the class of 2015 isn’t getting that treatment.

This ideal seniority is not the direct sense of actually being allowed certain things that other grades are not allowed, but a traditional environment in which upperclassmen are shown a certain level of respect. I am not asking for security to turn their back or the deans to not write Saturday detentions. I am telling the senior student body that if they stay timid and don’t walk through the halls with the air of confidence that every upperclassman should exude, they are going to be looked at as freshman, literally.

It’s not all on the administration for constricting seniors. Take the privilege of off-campus lunch, for example. How many people do you actually know that have off-campus lunch? How many of you just found out what it is? According to assistant principal Mark Rigby, our school’s upperclassmen, provided that they have a reputable attendance and disciplinary record, have at least a 3.0 GPA and have parental permission, they are allowed to leave the school’s campus during their lunch period to eat where they choose.

“Most kids– about 90 percent– receive off-campus that apply. It’s a privilege. If you are an average student doing what’s required of you, you will receive it,” Rigby said.

If being granted off-campus lunch privileges is as easy as the assistant principal says it is, I question why the majority of the junior and senior student body don’t pounce on the opportunity.

Seniors here aren’t feeling any type of power and senior Michael Ibrahim, angry with the lack of respect he feels seniors receive, said, “Seniors can’t do anything anymore. They used to be able get away with stuff, have off campus, feel special because they’re older and already went through what every other grade is going through.”

In a sense, it’s a way of carrying yourself. Seniority isn’t the right to break rules and get away from trouble, but the privilege of feeling in power and control. No student asks for special rights and passageways to cheat any system, only the right to celebrate their last year at school.

Privileges like ordering lunch from outside vendors and graduating before the rest of the school have been offered to seniors in the past and, unfortunately, this year’s top of the pack is deprived. Little gestures like these can make a difference in the level seniority we feel.

Not being forced to wear lanyards, or sent to the deans for eat during a study hall held in the cafeteria are perks as well! Certainly the administration is only doing its job, but I ask myself why they must enforce the rules so adamantly on the people who already lived through three years of the strict rules.

Seniority is established through experience. The class of 2015 should do a better job of showing it. I can remember my freshman year when the seniors here were big and scary. Why do the seniors today feel small and frightful?

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  • A

    An AlumOct 29, 2014 at 7:43 AM

    The premise of the argument behind this article is inherently flawed. Seniority doesn’t mean the ability to ignore rules and regulations. Mario writes: “Not being forced to wear lanyards, or sent to the deans for eat during a study hall held in the cafeteria are perks as well! Certainly the administration is only doing its job, but I ask myself why they must enforce the rules so adamantly on the people who already lived through three years of the strict rules,” but therein lies the fallacy. Someone who has lived in the U.S. until old age doesn’t entitle them to break the law, so too then we cannot allow seniors to break rules based upon the notion that they’ve somewhere earned the right because they’ve dealt with the rules for so long.

    Reply
    • A

      AlumOct 29, 2014 at 11:48 AM

      I think he is living in a fantasy land based off TV. I don’t believe there has ever been tangible privileges extended to seniors. You’re in high school whether the first or fourth year.

      I’m also unclear from reading this what could actually be done to satisfy the writer. It doesn’t seem like he is upset about anything specific, but instead is bothered he doesn’t feel special when he apparently had some ideas he’d be treated like royalty.

      I’m not sure where he got those ideas other than maybe tv and movies, which, last time I checked, are not real life.

      Reply
    • Q

      QuinnNov 13, 2014 at 7:59 PM

      I agree with most of the things being said here. As an underclassman, I looked forward to being able to end school way before the underclassman when I became a senior. I looked forward graduating at Northwestern rather than at the school. As alums, you guys don’t understand the changes being implemented and thus were never affected by it.
      Before you think of shooting your mouth, but uttering nonsense, you should remember that your lack of knowledge is worse than your ignorance to seek the truth.

      Reply
      • A

        AlumNov 18, 2014 at 2:25 PM

        What are the changes then? Nothing described in the article is any different than it was back in my day. Get off my lawn.

        Reply
  • A

    AlumOct 28, 2014 at 12:30 PM

    I read a lot of words, and I don’t understand what your actual complaint is. What do you want?

    Reply